 | A prologue to the University of Oxford |  |
A PROLOGUE TO THE University of Oxford.
Once more our London Muses Pleas'd, repair
To this Blest Seat, and breath their Native Air;
Here seek Protection from their Kindred Gown,
Glad to retire from that Degenerate Town:
To this Blest Seat, and breath their Native Air;
Here seek Protection from their Kindred Gown,
Glad to retire from that Degenerate Town:
Where Spurious Criticks in false Judgment Sit,
Debaucht with Farce, and Negligent of Wit,
Our indignation equally they raise,
Whether they Frown or Smile upon our Playes,
And Damn us with the scandal of their Praise.
Debaucht with Farce, and Negligent of Wit,
Our indignation equally they raise,
Whether they Frown or Smile upon our Playes,
And Damn us with the scandal of their Praise.
Now, to our wish, we have an Audience found,
Which will be pleas'd with Sence as well as Sound:
You only can Reform th'unthinking Age,
Redeem our credit lost, and dignify the Stage.
Witt is your Growth: and now ('tis all we Crave)
Retrieve that Honour, which before You Gave:
Poetry Yet will Thrive, if rais'd by You,
As Plants their fading Vigor will renew
From that kind Soil, in which at first they Grew.
Which will be pleas'd with Sence as well as Sound:
You only can Reform th'unthinking Age,
Redeem our credit lost, and dignify the Stage.
Witt is your Growth: and now ('tis all we Crave)
Retrieve that Honour, which before You Gave:
Poetry Yet will Thrive, if rais'd by You,
As Plants their fading Vigor will renew
From that kind Soil, in which at first they Grew.
Your Learned Censures will Instruct the Town,
And teach them when to Smile, and when to Frown,
And by Your Judgment to improve their own.
You, as Wits higher powers, our doom reveal,
From whose decisive Court, there's no appeal.
And teach them when to Smile, and when to Frown,
And by Your Judgment to improve their own.
You, as Wits higher powers, our doom reveal,
From whose decisive Court, there's no appeal.
Then rise! Athenians! in the just defence
Of Poetry Opprest, and long neglected Sence;
The Reputation of our Art advance,
Suppress the exorbitance of Song and Dance,
And in one powerful party Conquer France;
Nor have we Vicious entertainment brought,
You safely may Approve, and Smile without a fault.
Of Poetry Opprest, and long neglected Sence;
The Reputation of our Art advance,
Suppress the exorbitance of Song and Dance,
And in one powerful party Conquer France;
Nor have we Vicious entertainment brought,
You safely may Approve, and Smile without a fault.
With shame we must confess our City Guests
Have been regal'd with such unwholsome Feasts,
With Greediness the fulsom Bait they seize,
And drest in Vice, even Sence it self will please.
Have been regal'd with such unwholsome Feasts,
With Greediness the fulsom Bait they seize,
And drest in Vice, even Sence it self will please.
But now w' have nought to offend the Chastest Ear,
You from imputed Crimes our Stage shall clear,
For none will blush to own, what You vouchsafe to hear.
You from imputed Crimes our Stage shall clear,
For none will blush to own, what You vouchsafe to hear.
| A prologue to the University of Oxford | |